Michigan, California and Vermont Voters Approve Amendments to Protect Abortion Rights in State Constitutions

Anna Lazarus Caplan
·2 min read
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Pro choice supporters gather outside the Michigan State Capitol
Pro choice supporters gather outside the Michigan State Capitol

JEFF KOWALSKY/AFP via Getty

Voters in Michigan, California and Vermont elected to enshrine abortion rights into their state constitutions on Tuesday, while Kentucky voters rejected a change to their state constitution that would have blocked any abortion rights.

The ballot measures came months after the reversal of Roe v. Wade, a decision which led to near-total bans in many states, including in Texas, Oklahoma, Florida, Tennessee and North Carolina.

According to NPR, in Michigan, abortion rights advocates gathered more than 750,000 signatures in order to get the Proposition 3 amendment on the ballot.

The referendum will amend the state's constitution to specify that "every individual has a fundamental right to reproductive freedom."

Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer won re-election Tuesday night in part due to running a campaign in which she championed abortion rights, the Washington Post reported.

In Kentucky on Tuesday, voters rejected an amendment that would have revised the state constitution to make clear that women do not have any abortion rights there. Anti-abortion groups hoped to add the words: "to protect human life, nothing in this constitution shall be construed to secure or protect a right to abortion or require the funding of abortion."

RELATED: Kansas Defends Its Right to Abortion After Voters Shoot Down Proposed Constitutional Amendment

In California, Gov. Gavin Newsom celebrated the results of the election amid a divided political nation where the balance of Congress remained undetermined on Wednesday. Voters passed Proposition 1, which ensures women the right to an abortion in the state's constitution.

Abortion rights demonstrator Elizabeth White leads a chant in response to the Dobbs v Jackson Women's Health Organization ruling in front of the U.S. Supreme Court on June 24, 2022 in Washington, DC. The Court's decision in Dobbs v Jackson Women's Health overturns the landmark 50-year-old Roe v Wade case and erases a federal right to an abortion.
Abortion rights demonstrator Elizabeth White leads a chant in response to the Dobbs v Jackson Women's Health Organization ruling in front of the U.S. Supreme Court on June 24, 2022 in Washington, DC. The Court's decision in Dobbs v Jackson Women's Health overturns the landmark 50-year-old Roe v Wade case and erases a federal right to an abortion.

Brandon Bell/Getty Abortion rights protest

RELATED: Abortion Rights Activist on Supreme Court Overturning Roe v. Wade: 'Legal, Political, Cultural Chaos'

Vermont had a similar initiative, and passed an amendment to protect abortion rights. About 77% of voters there supported the amendment.

"From California and Kentucky to Michigan and Vermont, voters came out in full force to defend their reproductive freedom this election," Alexis McGill Johnson, president of Planned Parenthood Action Fund, said Wednesday.

In August, Kansas voters were the first to preserve abortion rights following Roe v. Wade decision, shooting down a referendum to the constitution that would have led to further restrictions or an abortion ban across the state.